07/28/2026
Amazing asset in history.
Blue Skies and Tailwinds, Legend ✈️
The aviation world is mourning the loss of a true icon. Azriel "Al" Blackman, holding the Guinness World Record as the world's longest-serving aircraft mechanic, has passed away at the age of 100. He passed peacefully on the evening of Friday, July 24.
Al’s career was the stuff of legends - a journey spanning over eight decades with American Airlines.
Fresh out of Manhattan's Aviation High School, a 16-year-old Al started working on July 17, 1942, earning 50 cents an hour in the sheet metal shop (requiring his mother's permission to take the job). He never left.
His career bridged eras. In the 1940s, he waded into Flushing Bay at LaGuardia to tie lines to Sikorsky seaplanes. Over the next 80 years, he worked on nearly every aircraft American ever flew, all the way up to the modern Boeing 777.
In 2017, American Airlines honored his historic 75th anniversary by dedicating a Boeing 777 (registration N751AN) to him - affectionately nicknamed "7BK" by fellow mechanics.
Even in his later years, his shift started at 5 a.m., but he was known to arrive at the hangar before 3 a.m. most days, fueled by a lifelong passion and his late wife Delores's affectionate nudge: "Go to work, bum. Go play with your friends."
Al embodied the spirit of aviation craftsmanship, famously reminding us all:
"If you like what you do, it's not work."
Thank you for keeping the world safely in the air for 80 years, Blackie. Rest in peace.
